Answer The Door Poem by Mike Smith

To those who say there is no longer any opportunity
I strike back with, Bite your tongue and open your eyes
You see not one avenue for advancement
One channel for growth
Not a single chance for improvement of your situation
You are blinded by your pessimism
By your exposure to rampant laziness
And the sour taste that comes with failed attempts at a better life
No, opportunity is not dead
In fact, it is in abundance
Two dozen a dime
We hear him knock at our door
Unfortunately, too often, we leave him waiting for us in the rain
But why?
Maybe you didn't hear the knock
Maybe you were so busy at the time, you simply couldn't make it to the door
Or maybe you were on your way to answer when something so pressing came up, you virtually had to walk away
Yeah... Maybe
But more likely than that
More likely than most anything else
You were too afraid to answer
Afraid to make a commitment
Afraid to take a risk
Afraid to try something new
Afraid of opening the door, welcoming the opportunity before you, and failing
Success is not a guarantee
And for most of us, it is far from something that we can merely wait to be handed over to us
Success is a hard fought test of determination
It requires a sacrifice
An investment beyond anything monetary
A devotion of time and effort
It is no easy thing to accomplish
If it were then everyone would have done it by now
It's a marathon of trials and contests
A gauntlet of potential miscues
Of errors waiting to be had
This is why we turn down the opportunities standing before us
Out of some inability to believe in ourselves
Some notion that we are not up to the task
Some inferiority complex that tells us to accept our meager future prospects as fact
When truly, by and large, if ever there were a time when man could change his stars
To progress beyond his inherited status
To fulfill the extent of his potential
What better time than now?
If more people bit their tongues and opened their eyes
They would see it as I do
It is not opportunity that the world is lacking or run short on
It is the opportunists